I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for over a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
For three years there was peace between Aram and Israel. Then in the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit King Ahab of Israel. While Jehoshaphat was there Ahab decided to attempt to recover a city which Aram had taken from Israel. Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go with him in battle. Jehoshaphat said that he would be glad to assist, but that they should find out what God had to say first. So Ahab summoned 400 prophets and asked them if he should go to war or refrain. They all replied that the Lord said he should go.
Then we read something interesting. After hearing what the 400 prophets whom Ahab had summoned had to say, Jehoshaphat asks, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here? We should ask him the same question.” The passage does not tell us, but it appears that perhaps these prophets whom Ahab had summoned were prophets of Baal. What we know of Baal worship suggests that Baal worshipers did not make a distinction between Baal and God. Ahab responds that there is a prophet of the sort that Jehoshaphat is looking for, but Ahab hates him because he never tells Ahab what he wants to hear. Jehoshaphat tells Ahab that a king should not talk that way and asks to hear this prophet.
Ahab did as Jehoshaphat asked and summoned Micaiah, the prophet of God. When Ahab’s messengers found Micaiah they warned him that the other prophets had all prophesied victory and that he should do the same. When Micaiah arrived before Ahab he initially told Ahab that he should attack and God would give victory into his hands. There was something about the way Micaiah said this that told Ahab that he was not being truthful and Ahab demanded that Micaiah tell him what God had truly said. Micaiah replied that he had seen Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Micaiah went on to say that God had sent a spirit to mislead Ahab’s prophets in order to entice Ahab into battle so that he could be killed. Ahab ordered Micaiah arrested and held on bread and water until he returned safely from battle. Micaiah responded that if Ahab returned safely from battle, God had not spoken through him.
Despite the prophecy of Micaiah, Ahab and Jehoshaphat went to war as planned. However, in an attempt to avoid the fate prophesied for him, Ahab convinced Jehoshaphat to go into battle in full royal regalia while Ahab disguised himself as a common soldier. The king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders to attack only the king of Israel. As a result when the battle began they went after Jehoshaphat. However, when Jehoshaphat cried out (whether to give an order or in fear we do not know) they realized that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him. While this was going on, an Aramean archer randomly shot at the Israelite troops and hit Ahab. Ahab realized he was seriously wounded and had his chariot driver get him out of the battle. Ahab remained propped up in his chariot for the rest of the day until evening when he died. At that word spread through his army to retreat and they did so. So for all of Ahab’s deception he was unable to avoid the end which God had prophesied for him.
Paul and Barnabas had left Cyprus and traveled to Antioch of Pisidia. They went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, where they were invited to speak. At this invitation, Paul stood up and began speaking. He addressed both the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles who were listening to him. Paul gave a synopsis of Jewish history to David, who he referred to as a man after God’s own heart. He then told them that Jesus was a descendant of David and God’s promised savior of Israel. Paul told them about John the Baptist’s ministry and his statement that he was not the Messiah, but that the Messiah was coming soon.
Paul then reiterated that the message of salvation that he was bringing was for both the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles. Paul told them that the leaders of the people in Jerusalem did not recognize Jesus as the prophets had prophesied about. Instead they condemned Him and had Him crucified. However, God raised Jesus from the dead and, over a period of many days He appeared to those who had been His disciples. Those disciples were now His witnesses to the people of Israel. Paul told them that the Gospel message was that through Jesus everyone can have forgiveness of sins. He concluded by warning them not to be scoffers who wondered at God’s power and perished because they refused to believe.
Once again today’s psalm is a psalm which lifts my spirit. It is a short psalm, so I will encourage you to read it for yourself. However, I will pull out a few bits that spoke to me as I read them:
I will sing your praises before the gods.
I will praise God with all of my heart. I will praise God more than anything else which I might be inclined to praise.
you encourage me by giving me strength.
God does answer prayers. When I don’t hear His answers it is usually because they are not answers that I want to hear. Nevertheless, He encourages me by giving me the strength to face my trials. The psalmist reminds us that for all of His greatness, God prefers the company of the humble to that of the proud. I took the title of today’s blog from the NIV:
your love, Lord, endures forever
Yet, in many ways I prefer the New Living Translation:
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
God has plans for my life and those plans will come to fruition. God’s plans are formed out of His love for me, so I can be sure that they will bring me joy.
If you are someone’s friend, you will always be loyal to them and if you are someone’s brother (or sister), you were born to give them aid when they are in need. This does not mean that you will not see when your friend is wrong. It means that you will always encourage them to do what will be best for them, and it is always best to do what is right.
You should only guarantee the debt of someone for whom you are willing to pay it if they fail to do so.